Thousands of tenancy-in-common owners will be able to convert their units into condominiums by paying a fee under legislation approved Tuesday that ended a bitter political debate that dragged on for years.

The approval comes after complaints from tenancy-in-common owners about the higher-than-normal mortgage rates they have to pay and the years of having to wait in The City’s annual lottery process. That lottery selects just 200 units for conversion each year. More than 2,000 units were in the recent lottery.

A proposal to address these concerns was introduced a year ago by Supervisor Mark Farrell. But Board of Supervisors President David Chiu then amended it while working with tenant advocates and put in provisions Farrell opposed. On Tuesday, Farrell said his proposal had “become a mess” and that he was no longer supporting it.

Exhibiting the strength tenant advocates maintain in San Francisco politics, the board approved the legislation in an 8-3 vote Tuesday, making it able to withstand a mayoral veto, which takes eight votes to override. Supervisors Farrell, Scott Wiener and Katy Tang opposed it. Read more →